Calcareous defense structures of prey mediate the effects of predation and biotic resistance towards the tropics

Aims

The importance of biotic interactions in creating and maintaining diversity is expected to increase toward low latitudes. However, the way in which predation affects diversity, can depend on how predators mediate competitive interactions and also on defensive traits of prey. Here we assessed the role of physical defences of prey to escape predation and how the importance of predation on community structure and diversity changes across latitude.

Location

Six sites, in three regions distributed across 45 degrees of latitude in the Atlantic Ocean: a tropical region in Angola, a subtropical region in Brazil and a temperate region in Wales-UK.

Methods

We manipulated predation on marine sessile communities, using exclusion cages and assessed community parameters, including their susceptibility to biological invasion during early and advanced succession.

Results

Predation was more intense in the tropics and in advanced communities suggesting that predation effects inc...